


I Think You're ______

by Chrystie, kate882



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Jason was never Robin but he is Red Hood, M/M, The soulmate au where their primary thought about you is written on your wrist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-11-04 11:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17897585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: It wasn’t even until he was home and showered that he realized the word on his wrist had changed. It had been “Distant” for a few years now, and he’d been rather curious about who had made that opinion since he thought he acted quite friendly with most people he met, but had never been able to figure it out. Now Dick wasn’t sure that they didn’t mean literally far away, because the word “Annoying” was written in neat writing across his wrist where Distant had been.





	1. Annoying

Dick’s first impression of the Red Hood came well before he met the man. Dangerous. Not entirely bad, as Bruce seemed to believe, but most notably dangerous. He was too much of a wild card, fighting crime some days and leading it others, all with a willingness for extreme violence or death and no clear end goal. 

But overall, he didn’t have to worry about that too much, because Red Hood seemed to spend a lot of his time in Gotham, and didn’t seem to care much about Bludhaven or Nightwing, as far as Dick could tell.

He and his men sometimes entered the city to have meetings with Bludhaven’s top criminals, but the Red Hood didn’t seem to grace these meetings with his presence for long, and didn’t hang around the city afterwards, at least not from what Dick saw or heard anyway.

So it wasn’t really a surprise that he didn’t meet Hood- who appeared to be on the fighting crime side of things for the night, as he left a warehouse full of Black Mask’s drugs burning behind him that Dick had been intending to investigate- until he had to cover for Batman in Gotham while he was on League business and the majority of the other Bats were on their own missions.

“You don’t live here,” Hood noted, hand shifting closer to the gun holstered at his side when he spotted Dick in full Nightwing gear.

“Guy can’t swoop in for a visit? I’m friends with a lot of locals.”

“You can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t affect me,” Hood answered, moving to walk around Dick.

“Oh? Then is there anything specific I should be avoiding?” Dick didn’t think he’d actually tell him what he was up to, but it’d be nice if he gave at least a hint of an indication of whether it was going to be legal or not.

“How about you leave me alone and I leave you alone. I don’t have a lot of use for Bludhaven,” Hood said dismissively.

“I’ve noticed, but I can’t help but be curious about you. Batman thinks you’re a loose cannon and too dangerous to leave alone, Red Robin doesn’t think you’re that bad, and Robin thinks he could kick your ass without trying.” He’d heard so much about Red Hood, it was hard not wanting the chance to form his own opinion.

“You’re terribly chatty for someone who hasn’t checked to make sure there weren’t people in that warehouse yet,” was the non sequitur he got in response over the Red Hood’s shoulder as the man kept walking away towards a bike parked nearby.

“I've also heard that you’re not a big fan of civilian casualties.”

“Black Mask’s men aren’t civilians.”

Dick gave him an assessing look, not that he could see it. Dick didn’t think Red Hood would kill lackeys, it wasn’t really something he was known to do unless necessary. Black Mask’s men did deal to kids though, which he’d also read Red Hood wasn’t a big fan of. “You win this round, but don’t think this is the last you’ll see of me.”

He just got a middle finger in response, and then Hood was speeding off on his bike while Dick was left to check the warehouse.

* * *

It wasn’t even until he was home and showered that he realized the word on his wrist had changed. It had been “Distant” for a few years now, and he’d been rather curious about who had made that opinion since he thought he acted quite friendly with most people he met, but had never been able to figure it out. Now he wasn’t sure that they didn’t mean literally far away, because the word “Annoying” was written in neat writing across his wrist where Distant had been.  

He wasn’t exactly sure what he did that would have caused the change, especially not now after it having been the same for so long. It could’ve been that his soulmate saw something about him in gossip tabloids. Despite not having lived with Bruce for years, the media still liked to poke their noses into his business every now and again. But surely his soulmate would have seen some of that already.

He’d also just been out as Nightwing, but would a civilian from Gotham really think another vigilante was annoying? Maybe if they were a die hard Batman and Robin fan, but that sounded unlikely in his mind. God forbid his soulmate be a criminal he’d passed by during the night. He really hoped it was the tabloid assumption that caused the change of opinion.

* * *

“I think we have enough masked heroes in this town, don’t you think? Whereas Bludhaven just has you, and it’s a decent travel time if something happens while you’re here,” Hood said the next time they ran into each other, not even lifting his head to look at Dick as he worked on dismantling a bomb.

“Bludhaven will last a night without me. It’s all organized crime. Here’s where you have the psycho mad men.”

“Yes, both in capes and out, it really is a unique city,” Hood agreed. “I’ve got this handled though, so you can start the drive home.”

“You might have that one handled, but you didn’t have that one,” Dick pointed towards the hidden bomb he’d taken care of before Red Hood spotted him.

“I’m only one man, I can only disengage one bomb at a time, birdboy. Are we done?” He cut the last wire and got to his feet, brushing off the knees of his pants and turning to face Dick, not that that helped him get any better of a read on his expression with the helmet in the way.

“It’s okay to need help every now and then; you shouldn’t reject it when it’s given willingly.”

“Don’t need help. The bombs are finished. And I’m not a superhero, so I don’t work with them.”

“Not even if one of them has intel specifically relevant to you?”

There was a slight pause before he got an answer, which he took to mean he at least had Red Hood’s attention for the moment. “What does the guy who lives a city away possibly know of use to me? And what does he charge for it?”

“Just a bit of your co-operation and time. It’ll benefit both of us.”

“I don’t even know that your information is good. And I’d want to know why you want my help for it in the first place.”

Tim wasn’t lying when he said Red Hood was overall really cautious. “Well, despite what you say about not having much interest in Bludhaven, you do have a few men operating from there.”

“Good to keep appearances with crime lords that are only a thirty minute drive away on a good traffic day. What about it?”

“Well a few of the local crime lords aren’t too happy you’re there, something about being afraid you might want to expand your influence. The thing is, I kind of like that you have some guys there. Keeps the others from gaining too much power or influence.”

“Boring, Nightwing. Crime lords are never thrilled to have someone else hanging around. Just like I’m not thrilled that you’re suddenly hanging around me.”

“Boring enough that you don’t need to know that three of them decided to team up to take you out?”

“Boring enough that you told me the most important part before getting any payment, or even agreement to payment,” he could practically hear the smirk in Hood’s tone. “People are always trying to take me out. Your former partner with the pointy ears and a cape being one of them. Which makes you a very untrustworthy source.”

“Now I might have worked with Batman on occasion, but you can’t really call that a partnership. Besides he already has a partner, along with a small team.”

“Don’t play dumb, boy wonder. It’s not a good look on you. Are we done? Or do I have to shoot you to get you to leave me alone?”

“You can try to shoot me. I don’t think that’ll go the way you think it will, but I guess I should let you think on it because I’m still going to be working on this whether you decide it’s worth your time or not and hopefully we don’t get in each other’s way.”

“Working on what, exactly? You never did tell me what you wanted my help with, that I’m supposedly supposed to think on.”

“Ah right, I was planning to put a stop to the hit on you before they managed to even get into Gotham, but seeing you work, I guess it’s more stopping them from driving into Gotham to their deaths.”

“And why would you stop a hit on me? Isn’t that Batman’s job? To prevent criminals from getting killed in his city?” And that was definitely annoyance in his tone, that spoke of Batman stopping Red Hood from killing criminals several times.

“My motives aren’t exactly to stop a criminal from dying, although that is something I’d do, hate to break it to you. I told you, I like having your influence in the city. Besides, I’m still trying to decide if I like you. Can’t do that if you’re not around.”

“That answer’s easy, and I’ll give it to you free of charge: no. You don’t like people who kill people, and it’s not worth your time to like me when I barely step foot in your hellhole city.” And with that, Red Hood seemed to decide he was done talking to Dick, because he pulled out a grapple and made a running start for the next roof over.

“Batman’s opinion’s aren’t mine, and you shouldn’t assume we think the same.” Dick called out before Red Hood was out of earshot, but didn’t get a response back.

* * *

The word on his wrist had changed again by the time he got home. Now instead of annoying he had “Naive” written out, which wasn’t much better on the insulting scale, but he’d been called worse.   

He really had to wonder who it was that thought of him like this even if it wasn’t the first time he’d been called, or thought of as, naive. Usually that thought was aimed at Nightwing rather than Dick Grayson, given the fact that people tended to confuse his niceties and easy going personality for naivety. Dick Grayson, on the other hand, got labelled with airheaded and vapid.

And it couldn’t have been a coincidence that these thoughts changed following both his meetings with Red Hood, could it? Dick couldn’t say for sure, but the suspicion was now firmly in his mind, which really only furthered his interest into getting to know the man. He’d break through to him eventually. He always did.

* * *

“I’m starting to think you get a thrill out of bothering me, Nightwing.” Hood wasn’t even in the middle of anything at the moment that Dick could see, the smell of smoke around him indicating Dick had interrupted his smoke break on the rooftop he was currently seated on the edge of.

“Nice to see you too, Hood. How have you been? I’ve been great,” Dick greeted in response, blatantly ignoring Hood’s bad attitude.

“Did you need something? Pretty sure I already took care of your crime lord issue.” Looked like his suspicions that the ‘heart attack’ the ringleader of the plot to kill the Red Hood suffered not being entirely due to natural causes wasn’t so far off the mark.

“Giving you a visit just feels like it’s part of a routine now whenever I come to Gotham. Meet up with Batman, see the kids, pay Red Hood a visit.”

“And what does Batman think of the last part of that routine?”

“He doesn’t get a say in who I choose to associate myself with.” Not that that didn’t stop Bruce from trying. It was one of many issues Dick had whenever he came back.

“Do I get a say? Because I think I’ve been giving off very strong ‘leave me alone’ vibes.”

“You give me those based off of my relation to Batman, which I’m not a big fan of.”

“I give you those based on you being Nightwing. Your affiliation with Batman just adds to it.”

“And what’s so wrong with being Nightwing?”

“Crime fighting, anti killing, vigilante.” Hood ticked them off on his gloved fingers. “Doesn’t exactly mix well with my business. It didn’t matter before when you stayed in your own city, but it might be a problem if you keep visiting this one and following me around.”

“You say that like I have plans to take you down, which I don’t at the moment.”

“I don’t trust that. I’m a criminal. You’re a crime fighter. There’s absolutely zero reason for you to not try to take me down.”

“I think I already gave you a reason why I don’t plan to take you down the last time I was here.”

“Bad reasoning,” Hood dismissed immediately. “And enjoying the break you get from my presence lowering crime rates doesn’t mean that we’re suddenly friends or that you need to hang out with me.”

“No, but I’ve so far decided that I don’t dislike you, which means I’m still curious about getting to know you.” The fact that Red Hood was very likely his soulmate didn’t have anything to do with it. None at all.

Despite wearing a helmet completely covering his face, Red Hood managed to level him with an unimpressed look.“The feeling is not mutual. You might not be interested in taking me down, which I still don’t buy into I just figure you’re trying to play it friendly, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for my reputation to be seen hanging out with you.”

“Oh yeah. The morally ambiguous badass Red Hood seen with Nightwing? What could he be doing with someone so morally sound and friendly? The scandal,” Dick sarcastically gasped.

“The gang leader and known murderer, Red Hood, seen with known crime fighter known for putting away criminals. It looks like I’m selling people out.”

He really was overly cautious. “I think that reasoning only works if you didn’t also have a reputation for being the most secretive guy out there, and I didn’t have one for making friends with almost everyone.” And because Dick had no self preservation, he moved to plop himself down next to Red Hood.

There was a long moment were Hood just stared at him (or he had to assume that was what was happening behind the mask, but his head was angled towards Dick) before he finally said, “if I pushed you off this roof and you survived it, what are the chances it gets you to leave me alone?”

“Still not that much,” Dick snorted.

“Always best to test theories though, right?” And that was all the warning he got before Hood actually did shove him, but it was enough for him to grab his grappling hook, so he didn’t take it as an actual murder attempt. “I’m gonna head out. Maybe don’t get in arms reach of criminals next time,” he called over the edge of the roof.

“I’ll see you on my next visit!” Dick called back, seemingly undisturbed.

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

By the time Dick got back onto the rooftop Hood was already gone. A quick check of his wrist all but confirmed that Red Hood was his soulmate. And that Hood didn’t like him much, since he was back to Annoying.

* * *

“You’re really becoming a pain in my ass. I heard Nightwing was in town and had to move my meeting for the night to avoid you potentially crashing into it.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Dick grinned innocently.

“You know exactly what I mean. Aren’t you here to fight crime or something? You’re not fighting me yet, so I don’t see how this is worth your time.”

“I make time for all my Gotham visits, you included.”

“Why?” Hood held up his hand when Dick opened his mouth. “And can I get a real answer this time? No jokes, or vague half truths at best and full lies at worst. An actual answer. Because all of this is cutting into my time, and I need to know how much of a threat you are to me.”

Dick considered telling him about being his soulmate, he kind of wanted to too, but he still wasn’t sure, and it wasn’t really the whole reason anyway. “It’s not a lie that I want to get to know you and form my own opinion of you. So far all I’ve got is secretive and cautious.”

“And while that doesn’t entirely answer my question because I don’t see you following people like Harley or Ivy around for opinion forming, that’s all you really need to know about me anyway. I’m not interested in getting to know vigilantes or playing nice with them.”

“Harley and Ivy don’t exactly decide they want to do good every few nights, and I already knew what I thought about them.” Considering he spent a good amount of time fighting them as Robin, it was hard not to have opinions already formed about them.

“You know that’s not the point. You’re insufferable, but not an idiot.”

Apparently Dick wasn’t going to get out of the questioning without at least hinting at why. “What do you think about me, Red?” He asked casually, shifting the conversation.

“I think you’re trying to change the subject,” he answered flatly.

“Just answer the question.”

“Fine.” Hood crossed his arms over his chest. “I think you’re still doing the vigilante equivalent of a rebellious phase, and that you’re using me for it because I haven’t tried to kill you yet like most of the bad guys where Bats can see would. I think you’re naive to think that this friendly act will work, even if you aren’t trying to take me down, because it’s only sort of working for you right now when you haven’t had to see me kill anyone yet, and thus haven’t put any strain on your moral high ground. And I think you get some kind of kick out of annoying me while you annoy Batman through me.”

Dick gave a thoughtful hum. That was more than he’d expected but there were some choice words in there that he’d been looking for. “And what do you think I think about you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Hood shrugged.

“Maybe not, but you could always check.”

“I figured as much. That doesn’t change the situation.”

Dick knew Red Hood was smart. “It doesn’t,” Dick agreed, “I know we don’t know each other, but that doesn’t stop me from being curious. I don’t expect anything from this.”

“Good, because I still have things to do here. And I’d prefer you to stay out of the way.”

“You should still expect me to be around every now and then. I did say I was still curious.” Although maybe now he’d pull back his efforts just a bit since Red Hood knew and was probably just going to be more dismissive of him.

“Curious about what? You confirmed what you wanted to know.”

“Curious about you and why the universe would think I’d ever be interested in the epitome of distrust and suspicion,” Dick lightly teased.

“You’re wearing a mask too, birdy. I don’t know how much judgement room you get.”

“Fair point, but that doesn’t change what I said.” Either way it was getting late, or well early if the light coming from the horizon was any indication and he promised he’d hang out with Tim and Damian later in the day. “I’ll see you around, Red.” And with that he shot his grapple to leave.


	2. Grayson

“Not in the mood, bird boy,” Hood informed him as soon as Dick landed in the alleyway next to him. 

“You sure?” Dick held out a first aid kit. He’d seen Red Hood get shot and he knew better than offer to help empty handed.

“I’m not letting you anywhere near my blood, so yes, I’m quite sure.”

“You and your paranoia,” Dick muttered. “Well you’re not going to magically heal from just sitting there.”

“I’ll manage on my own.”

“I’m not interested in taking any DNA samples, just let me help. I’ll even put on gloves and burn them if it makes you feel better.”

The pause that followed was clearly Hood considering him before reluctantly nodding.

Dick knelt down next to him, pulling out gloves he had in one of the compartments in his belt he usually kept for forensic work and got to work. He never really was a fan of awkward silences though. “So, how’d you piss him off?”

Hood shrugged and slid his jacket off before rolling up his sleeve so Dick could get a better look at the wound. It was also probably the most revealed the Red Hood had ever been, because Batman had never managed to get so much as a skin color, and now Dick could see most of his arm. “I shot his partner.”

Dick didn’t give much of reaction past a raised eyebrow because he knew a strong reaction was what Red wanted. “Why?”

“Serial rapist. Didn’t know there was a partner, which is why he was able to shoot me. Took care of him too though.”

Dick wanted to give the no killing lecture, it was on the tip of his tongue, but he knew Red Hood already got it from Bruce, and he knew Red would take it as proof that Dick wouldn’t want anything to do with him, which was still wrong. “You know there are other solutions to that problem.” Damn, it slipped out.

He was kind of glad he couldn’t see Hood’s face, for once, because he was sure there was either smugness at being right or disdain at the comment written all over it. “None quite as effective. They certainly won’t be touching anyone else now.”

Dick just huffed out a sigh. “At least this bullet only hit your arm.”

“I’ve had worse. You really didn’t need to get involved.”

“And yet here I am.”

“Here you are,” Hood echoed. To his credit, he only slightly tensed up when Dick dug the bullet out of his arm.

“Always around to help.” Dick made quick work with the rest of the patching. It really wasn’t that bad, and Red seemed to want him to believe that it didn’t even hurt that much.

Hood watched him take off the gloves, taking them from him afterwards, and the medical supplies Dick had used. “So does the hero complex come from Batman, or are you just like this?”

“I’m just like this,” Dick easily admitted.

“Figures. Batman probably would have tried to arrest me.”

“He absolutely would’ve. He also would’ve definitely taken that blood sample.”

“I’m not totally convinced you didn’t somehow. Not that my blood is going to be in any system, but I’m not looking to have today be the day it goes into one.”

“Oh hey would you look at that,” Dick pointed at Red’s wrist where it said ‘paranoid,’ “Overly so too. Yours could rival Batman’s.”

“It’s what happens when lots of people want you dead and someone like Batman is trying to expose your identity and arrest you,” Hood informed him blandly.

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not Batman.”

“No, you’re not,” Hood agreed easily. “But you work with him.”

Well there was no denying that. “When ever he’s being reasonable.”

Hood tilted his head slightly, observing Dick as he pulled his sleeve back down and put his jacket back on. “What a weird way to put it, considering you’re one of the more unreasonable people I know.”

“Me? Unreasonable? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Me? Ridiculous? How dare you.” It almost even sounded good humored.

Dick held out a hand for him to help him up. “You good to get home by yourself?”

“Yes. But I’ve got blood to clean up here,” Hood answered, ignoring Dick’s hand and getting up on his own, gesturing at the blood on the ground around him.

“Did you need me to bring you a hose?” He was joking, but he wasn’t sure if Red actually wanted a hose.

“No, you can get going. I know how to handle myself, I’ve been doing it for years without your help.”

If Red has been shot anywhere other than his arm, Dick would’ve hesitated longer to leave but considering he’d heard of Red getting up from much worse, he didn’t worry too much. “Don’t be afraid to call for help when you do need some. Or, I guess in your case, it would be to not be too stubborn to call for help.”

“Is there a vigilante phone plan with everyone’s numbers I don’t know about?” Hood asked sarcastically.

“Of course, didn’t you know? You just call 1-800-Batphone and dial two for me,” Dick aimed a cheeky grin at him.

“I think that’s more numbers than a phone number is supposed to have, Birdy.” He did sound vaguely amused though, so it was progress.

“Really?” Dick pulled out a slip of paper from his belt along with a pen. “Then I’ll guess you’ll just have to settle for this.” He jotted down his Nightwing line that his suit was programmed to receive calls from.

“Good God, you actually have a vigilante hotline. I was kidding, Nightwing. I figured you and the bats just had private comms.”

“We do, but I have other heroes and vigilantes that like to try and reach me.” And sometimes he only wanted to talk one or some of the bats without the rest listening in.

He couldn’t see it, but he had a feeling Hood was rolling his eyes at him even as he took the paper.

That night Dick had “Persistent” on his wrist. It was certainly a step up from being insulted.

* * *

Dick would never understand why a visit to Gotham out of costume was so hard. He’d let his guard down for one measly second and the next thing he knew he was, yet again, tied to a chair and being held for ransom. He couldn’t figure how the role of prime abductee hadn’t moved to at least Tim by now.

Well even if kidnappers were fast enough to catch him, that didn’t mean they were smart enough to keep him. He counted about a solid thirty minutes since he’d woken for the kidnappers to decide they didn’t need to actually watch him too well and with some poking, nudging and a hint of wide eyed innocence, the rope around his wrists and ankles was now securely around the two henchmen in charge of guarding him.

And that was when Red Hood burst in, and seemed to falter at the scene in front of him.

“Uh, you were not the knight in gloomy armor I was expecting.” He’d been expecting a duo of Robins, and Red Hood was decidedly neither of them.

“There wasn’t supposed to be a civilian here,” Hood muttered, instead of answering him, looking around the warehouse Dick had been kept in. “Why are you here?” And this time he was addressing Dick, and it was a bit of a relief that Hood wasn’t here because he knew Dick’s identity somehow.

“I was kidnapped?” That wasn’t supposed to sound like a question because he definitely had been kidnapped. Whether or not he could still be considered a prisoner was debatable.

Hood looked between him and the two men tied up on the floor. “...are you sure about that?”

“Well, I  _ was _ kidnapped. They got sloppy and lazy.”

“Right. And where’s the leader?”

“Somewhere between here and the exit?” While Dick would love to butt in and maybe see if he could help or stop Red, he was currently Dick Grayson and not Nightwing. “With my kidnapping, I’m gonna take a wild guess and say human traffickers?” He gestured at the tied up men.

“Nope. You’re very famous. That’d be a horrible trafficking plan.” And then Hood was gone, storming through the door, and a few seconds later Dick heard gunfire, but he couldn’t tell who from. Before he could go check on what was happening, Hood was walking back in, seemingly fine and tossed a burner phone at him. “Call the cops. They’d probably be interested in some low level drug peddlers trying to extort Richard Grayson for ransom money,” he said, starting to walk back towards the entrance he’d come from.

Dick was going to tell himself to take comfort in the fact that if he was going to call the cops then not everyone was dead. While the smart thing to do would be to just do as Red said, not draw suspicion or more attention to himself, it was hard not to be tempted to tease and play around. “Leaving so soon? What if the bad men wake up before the cops get here?”

“Then I imagine you’d do to them what you did to your guards,” Hood answered, sounding entirely unimpressed with Dick’s excuse to keep him around.

“You never know, that could’ve just been a lucky hit.”

Red Hood turned slightly to observe him and then men tied up at his feet. “No, I don’t really think it was.”

“So there’s nothing I can say to get your handsome self to stay a little?” One of the nice things about being out of the suit was that he was free to flirt without it getting weird with Hood when he tried to work with him.

Well that at least seemed to off foot him a little bit. The dude could confidently walk into gun fire, but froze at a little flirting. Interesting. “...what?”

“What?” Dick returned innocently.

Hood seemed to shake himself out of it. “I’m leaving. Stand outside if you don’t feel safe in here with them,” he muttered starting for the door again.

“But I feel so much safer with you around. You did just single handedly take them all down.”

“Call the cops, Grayson. I’m not a bodyguard.”

“But you’re sure built nice enough to be one I’d definitely want to hire.”

Hood didn’t answer him this time, but Dick did notice him trip slightly over seemingly nothing, catching himself on the door and exiting a bit quicker than was probably necessary.

Dick bit back a snicker but let him go. He glanced at his wrist and he’d changed from “Persistent” to “Suspicious”, which wasn’t really a good upgrade, all things considered since Hood had apparently formed that opinion of Dick Grayson rather than Nightwing who it would make more sense for.

Dick clearly needed to be more careful about Hood finding out his identity. That didn’t mean he still couldn’t have a bit of fun; especially now that he knew that teasing resulted in Hood being uncharacteristically cute.

* * *

“Go away, Birdy. I don’t have time tonight,” Hood told him when he landed beside the man on a rooftop, where he seemed to be observing the same weapons dealers Dick had been planning to bring down tonight.

“Believe it or not, I didn’t actually come here for you.”

“Considering you’ve been following me around for months, excuse me if I don’t believe you.”

“I get where you’re coming from, I was planning to find you tonight, but not until later. I’m actually here for them,” Dick pointed at the dealers.

“I’ve got this covered already. Feel free to go take the night off.”

“What? No way, I’ve been planning this hit for like two weeks. I like you, Red, but not enough to drop an op for you.”

Hood folded his arms over his chest. “Two and a half weeks. Plus I was here first. I’m claiming dibs on this one.”

“You can’t claim dibs on an op, that’s not how ops work.”

“I don’t see how else you and the other batlings could possibly be dividing up ops if not through the dibs system with how many of you there seem to be. But either way, I totally can claim dibs on an op because I just did. Scram.” He even made a shooing motion at Dick.

“No way in hell, Hood, you’re either joining me or getting in my way with this one.”

“Wait, so I’m supposedly not allowed to kick you off the op even though I was here first, but you think you’re going to be able to kick me off?” Hood asked incredulously. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Well I don’t see you making a move.” Dick dropped himself down just as the the last shipment was unloaded. He heard Hood curse and the other man quickly dropped down beside him.

“I hate you,” he muttered, but still went in with him.

Hood didn’t even kill anyone. There was a lot more possibly permanent injury than Dick could be entirely comfortable with, but at least they were all alive.

“That went well, we should do this more often,” Dick said casually as he dialed for the police.

“I wouldn’t count on it.”

“I figured as much but at least this one was fun while it lasted.”

“I’m clearing out before the cops get here. You good to watch them until then?”

“And here I was hoping to spend a little more time with you.”

“I’m sure you’ll find me again soon enough.”

* * *

It wasn’t like Dick wasn’t used to getting unwanted attention, but even if he was particularly numb to the occasional catcall, that didn’t mean it wasn’t still unwanted, which meant getting cornered by some very interested women was not very high on his most preferred list, and was part of why he hated going to these galas.

And then he found an arm around him, and he almost shoved the guy off, but got momentarily side tracked by staring at the man. Because damn.

“Sorry ladies, I need to borrow Grayson here for a few minutes,” the man said to the group of women, even as he was already pulling Dick away, ignoring their protests.

“Thank you,” Dick said low enough for only the man to hear as he pulled him across the room.

“You looked about this close to stabbing either one of them or yourself, so I figured I’d step in.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. Probably.”

“Couldn’t risk it,” the man removed his arm from around Dick and held out his hand. “Jason. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Dick, but I guess you already knew that.” Dick slid his hand into Jason’s and looked up to meet his gaze and wow did he have the nicest shade of teal in his eyes. “I don’t think I’ve seen you at any of these parties before, I definitely would’ve remembered if I had.”

“It’s not typically my scene,” Jason admitted easily. “But I had a few people I needed to talk to tonight, so I figured I’d make an appearance. And apparently play hero to you while I’m at it.”

“Well I definitely appreciate it.” Dick was not going to ogle this man, not when he’d been uncomfortable with it not even a few minutes before.

The smile he got made it really hard to keep to that resolution though. “You think you can keep out of trouble if I leave?”

“No promises. These galas can get so boring, although, I guess it did just get a little more interesting.” So much for not flirting with him. He was pretty sure he could see a blush forming on Jason’s face at the comment.

“Unfortunately I do have a meeting here, so you’ll have to fend for yourself the rest of the night. I’ll see you around.” And then he was walking away and Dick was decidedly not staring at his ass as he went.

It was until nearly the next morning, after a few more hours of polite small talk with dozens of people and then a long night out as Nightwing that he noticed the word on his wrist had changed just as he was about to collapse into bed. For a second he was sure he had misread, but he blinked a few times and looked again and it still clearly said “Grayson” in small, neat handwriting across his wrist. 

What exactly had he done that had pushed Hood to confirming his identity? He didn’t even see him that night.

Unless he had and hadn’t realized it. He always did hate galas. He’d talked to so many people, there was no way he could pinpoint it down to just one person. All he really had was Hood’s build, which surprisingly, he’d met at least a handful that night that could qualify. 

He couldn’t just leave it alone now that Hood knew who he was though. He had to either even playing field or at the very least just make sure Hood didn’t plan to release his identity to the public. Or both, maybe both.


	3. Reckless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, just a quick note. I might be a little late on updating the next chapter. My cat is really sick and it's not looking like we have a lot of time left with him, so I might be distracted with that. I'm just letting you guys know so that you don't think the story is abandoned or anything if it doesn't update on time next week, the entire fic is written out already and everything so it will be finished. -Kate

“What gave it away?” Was how he greeted Hood when he landed next to him on the roof.

At least Hood didn’t bother to play dumb with him. “Well for starters you escaped a kidnapping, took on two grown men twice your size without alerting the other criminals in the building, and managed to tie them both up with the same amount of rope it took them to ineffectively tie you up. I’ve also seen Nightwing tie up criminals, so that didn’t help you either.”

“I’ve been kidnapped a lot. Maybe I was just practiced in it, but that’s not what gave me away.”

Hood shrugged. “No, it just made me consider the idea and do some digging about Nightwing and Dick Grayson.”

“But that’s still not what really gave it away, is it?”

“I think I’ll keep that part to myself,” Hood answered.

“Shame, I’ve got maybe ten people I think you could be, and if you’re any one of them your looks exceeded all expectations.”

“Don’t make me push you off a roof again, Grayson.”

“What? You’re either attractive or very attractive. Besides, you’re unexpectedly cute when someone flirts with you.”

This time he didn’t get any warning, Hood just shoved him over the edge. It was a good thing he expected it and quickly shot out a line. “Aren’t you cute,” he practically cooed. And he was able to dodge the attempted shove this time because he still saw it coming.

“Mocking the guy who knows your secret identity seems like a bad plan,” Hood informed him.

“That is why I came to see you today.” He did need to check if Hood was a threat to his identity. Although, considering it wasn’t leaked yet, he didn’t think it would be.

“And here I was thinking it was one of your usual visits,” Hood said sarcastically.

“Aw, I love seeing you too. Really though, I would like to be able to trust you.”

“If your idea of trust is quid pro quo, you’re gonna be disappointed, Dickiebird. I plan to keep the helmet on.”

“I didn’t expect you not to. I’d just prefer it if you kept my name to yourself.” He’d figure it out eventually anyway he was pretty sure.

“Yours, and all the other little batlings, and the bat himself, I’m sure. It’s a dangerous set up you’ve got there, where figuring out one makes it so easy to figure out the others. But I don’t really get much out of releasing your identities, especially without proof. Bruce Wayne being Batman is a joke in Gotham at this point.” 

“That’s the idea. If it’s a joke no one will take it seriously. Still though, thanks.”

“It’s not anything to thank me for. It really doesn’t do me much good. Batman is already on me enough without me trying to out him to the world. He  _ talks to me  _ now because of you.” And he sounded way too exasperated for a criminal talking about interactions with Batman. “After the first no killing lecture it was mostly just fighting with bits of interrogation about crime thrown in. Now I get interrogated about you every time I run into the guy. And the batlings suddenly want to hang around me to see what the big deal is. The smallest one” Hood made a gesture that Dick guessed was to indicate Damian’s height, “tried to stab me, actually, so I don’t think he cares what the big deal is, but the others seem actually curious.”

Dick hadn’t really gotten around to telling them, but it made sense that they’d want to see why Dick was making friends with a criminal. “He likes to vet people I try to make friends with.”

“And the others? Other than the kid with the sword, they just seem to be hanging around. Black Bat and Spoiler haven’t even mentioned you. Spoiler actually tried to pull me into a selfie yesterday and Red Robin attempted to buy me coffee last week. I didn’t realize one stray bat following me around meant I’d get all of them.”

“They’re curious kids. And I guess me hanging around you proved to them you wouldn’t kill any of us for bugging you or something.”

“They’re all children. I’m closer to killing you than them,” he could almost hear the eyeroll. “Although, if you think you telling them to back off would work, I’d appreciate it, since none of you listen to me when I say it.”

“I’ll pass the message along. No guarantee that it’ll stick, but I’ll try.”

“Does that mean the secret identity interrogation is over?”

“Yeah, believe it or not, I believe you when you say you’re not going to blab my identity to everyone. I think it has something to do with you being on the same level of secretive as Batman.”

“I take that as an insult. Batman shows half his face, and has about a dozen sidekicks who know who he is. But, I’ve got places to be, so I’ll take it I guess.” He gave Dick a two finger salute before making his exit.

* * *

Dick barely thought before he was moving when he saw the gun pointed at Red, who couldn’t see it because he was busy fighting two other guys in front of him.

He jumped down, shoving Hood out of the way, and felt pain hit his side almost immediately.

“Wha- Nightwing? Fuck,” Hood grabbed him before he could fall with one arm, firing off shots with the gun in his free hand.

Dick didn’t even get the chance to see where those bullets landed before he was being whisked away to a nearby rooftop. “You idiot. What were you thinking?” Hood was muttering as he detached himself from Dick to look at the injury. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”  

“It’s part of the gig,” Dick tried to smile and laugh it off, but even he could never get used to being shot. “I don’t think it’s that bad.”

“Yeah, you’re lucky about that part. What will your suit do to me if I try to cut part of it off to get at the injury?”

“Taze you. Gimme a sec.” Dick pressed a few buttons in his glove and disabled the fail safes in his suit. “Better my side than your spine, I think.”

“My spine is protected by armour. I would have gotten winded and some bruising,” he informed Dick as he pulled out a knife and carefully cut away at his suit without cutting Dick. “You’ll be a bit worse off than that, but you’ll be fine,” he decided, getting to work on cleaning the injury. “Through and through, so I don’t even have to dig a bullet out of you.”

“I’m pretty used to taking a hit, won’t keep me down for long.”

“That doesn’t mean you should be reckless like that.” Hood actually sounded frustrated, like he was upset that Dick had gotten hurt for him.

“There was a gun pointed at you that you hadn’t noticed,” Dick tried to reason.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to risk your life!” Hood stitching him up and being angry at him probably wasn’t the time to be happy about the progress they’d made, but really considering they’d started at “Annoying” Hood caring at all about Dick’s wellbeing was pretty significant.

“It was a risk I was willing to take. Besides it’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad because you got lucky,” Hood bandaged him up and leaned back to observe his work. “Where am I taking you?”

“Well since you already know who I am, I don’t care about you knowing where I live when I stay here I guess.” His apartment was a lot more comfortable than any of his or Bruce’s safe houses.

“You don’t want to stay with any of the batlings?” Hood sounded skeptical, tilting his head down to look pointedly at Dick’s bandaged side.

“Not with a bullet in my side and you with me.” Tim would ask questions first, but Damian would definitely act first and ask later.

Hood stared at him for a moment longer, before simply nodding and helping Dick to his bike. “Hold on,” he warned after getting the address before taking off.

His apartment was actually a little cleaner than it normally would’ve been thanks to not having been there in a few weeks. “You can drop me in the couch.” It’s where he slept most nights anyway.

“You’re injured,” Hood answered, leading him straight past the couch and to the bedroom instead, helping him into the bed.

“Thanks, Hood,” Dick sighed as he felt the blanket draped over him.

“You took a bullet for me, it’s the least I could do,” Hood answered, already heading for the exit.

“And I’d do it again.” Dick had to take off his Nightwing suit, it was uncomfortable to sleep in it but moving just sounded so unappealing.

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

When he got the suit off he noticed “Reckless” written on his wrist.

* * *

“Should you be out and about already?” Hood asked when Dick found him, looking like he was about to start a smoke break in a back alley judging by the pack of cigarettes he’d been pulling back that he shoved back in his pocket upon seeing Dick.

“Of course; I feel great.” His side was still a little tender, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

“I want to judge, but I was back out here the next day after you pulled a bullet out of my arm, so I guess I’ll take your word for it.”

“So what have you been up to lately? Didn’t get into too much trouble while I was out, did you?”

“You haven’t seen my fight with Black Mask in the news? Here I was thinking you were following me around by keeping tabs.”

“I-uh-usually spend my off time going through my cases that have built up,” Dick admitted. “I did hear about the fight, but not much detail.”

Hood waved him off, leaning back against the alley wall. “It’s not that important anyway. All just lead up. I was just surprised you didn’t know.”

“I knew a little. Any chance you’ll tell me what the lead up is for?”

“No, obviously not,” he said dismissively.

“Shame,” Dick shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll know when the end results come out.”

“Any chance you’ll stay out of Gotham the next few weeks?”

“I was planning on another visit. Did you want me out of Gotham?”

“For a bit, yeah. I’m going to be pretty busy with this, and I can’t really have you tracking me down at random times while I’m working on it.”

“It’s not something that’s going to get you in trouble, is it?”

“Not if it goes right. Which is why I’m telling you to stay in Bludhaven”

That didn’t exactly put him at ease, but it wasn’t like he could just tell him to not do it. Well, he could, but Hood wouldn’t listen to him and Dick didn’t even know what he’d be telling him not to do. “Hey,” Dick lightly bumped his shoulder against Hood’s, “if you stay careful then I guess I could stay away for a little while.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know when I’m done. I’ve still got your hero hotline number.”


	4. Trustworthy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided rather than posting late, I would just post a day early instead of making you guys wait on however long it took me to get around to it after tomorrow. Thank you all for your well wishes last chapter, but unfortunately my cat is not going to make it. He's been suffering a lot, it's been really hard seeing him like this, and the vet says that he will only continue to get worse, so we had to schedule an appointment to put him down tomorrow afternoon so that his death won't be painful. So there's no way I'd be able to upload tomorrow after that, and I figured I'd just do it tonight so that you guys don't have to wait. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and thank you again for being so supportive last chapter and just for reading our story in general. -Kate

It wasn’t until weeks later that said hero hotline actually rang with an unknown number just as Dick was getting ready for bed.

There weren’t really any unknowns who could have that number, save for maybe one person. “Hood?” He greeted.

“Hey, um- fuck I shouldn’t have called you,” Hood answered, but kept talking before Dick could fully take offense to that or even answer it. “Can you come get me? I… I didn’t really know who else to call.”

Dick was already pulling his suit off the floor. Hood never sounded this uncertain, and considering their last conversation, it was worrying. “Where are you? What happened?”

“I don’t totally know where I am, address wise. Gotham Bay area,” Hood said, only really answering his first question. Dick was sliding on some pants when he noticed “Trustworthy” on his wrist. Which matched up with Hood deciding to call him, he supposed.

“Are you injured?” Dick was taking the first aid kit with him regardless, but it would be nice to know how badly Hood would need it.

“I might have a concussion. And my leg is definitely broken.”

Not a lot he could do on site, but it would be fine as long as Hood wasn’t down playing how hurt he was. “I’ll be there soon. Try and stay safe.”

“Safe? In Gotham? Good one, Grayson,” Hood tried to joke, but coughing after didn’t really help.

“I’ll be there soon,” Dick repeated. It was only then that Dick noticed Hood’s voice wasn’t being distorted by a modulator. If Hood’s helmet was off and he had a concussion, Dick could only imagine what had happened.

* * *

Dick sped his way so fast to Gotham he made it to the Gotham Bay in record time. He had to search along the bay to actually spot Hood. Splayed out on the ground was not how he wanted to find him. “What happened?” He asked as he dropped down next to him, scanning for injuries.

“Batman threw a wrench in my plans,” Hood answered, struggling to sit up. He was wearing a mask, but his helmet was nowhere to be seen. There was blood coming from a wound on his forehead and his neck, his leg was definitely bent at and angle it shouldn’t bend, and he appeared to have been in the bay at some point despite the cold temperatures, but with his armor on Dick couldn’t find much else wrong with him.

Even despite the mask, he could tell it was Jason, the white streak in his hair was a dead giveaway. “You can tell me about it later.” Right now he had to get Jason somewhere safe and definitely warmer.

It took a lot of maneuvering to get Jason, if that was actually his name and not a fake he’d given Dick at the gala, to the car with the broken leg, but eventually Dick had him laid down in the back seat. “Is it blood loss or concussions you’re not supposed to sleep for?” Jason mumbled as Dick got into the driver's seat.

“Well I think you have both, so I suggest not sleeping anyway, we’re not too far.”

“Where are we going?” Jason asked, sounding only half awake despite what Dick had just told him.

“My apartment; it’s a little more comfortable than the bay.” Dick would’ve preferred taking Jason to his own place, but he didn’t exactly know where that was. He could ask, but Jason didn’t seem quite in the state to give directions even if he did actually feel inclined to share that information.

“That’s a low bar.”

With a lot of speeding they got to Dick’s Gotham apartment, and then came the problem of getting Jason inside without someone noticing him borderline carrying the Red Hood in.

“Is it a Nightwing apartment, or a Dick Grayson apartment?” Jason asked, sitting up and holding onto the back of the front seat for support.

“Grayson. It was closer and it’s a bit comfier. Just didn’t think about how to get you up there.”

“You tell them your drunk friend fell over or got into a fight and don’t let them see my leg,” Jason answered, starting to strip the armor and more obvious weaponry off his suit and zipping up his jacket to cover the Red Hood symbol, before peeling the mask off his face. “I think I’m out of it enough to play the part.”

And there were those pretty teal eyes he’d only managed to see once. It was a good thing he’d been in such a rush when he’d left Bludhaven that he only managed to grab a mask. He was still in sweats and a hoodie. He peeled off his mask too and shoved it in his hoodie pocket. He carefully pulled Jason out and slung an arm around him and began to pull him into the building.

They didn’t even have to use their cover story, it turned out. At four in the morning the doorman barely looked at them long enough to recognize Dick and wave them in no questions asked.

Jason collapsed onto his couch when they got into Dick’s apartment and Dick basically manhandled him into some warm, dry clothes, also using the clothes swap to catalog other injuries, being careful of the broken leg. “You’re going to have to reset my leg. I think that has to come first,” Jason informed him.

“And bandage your neck.” It wasn’t bleeding anymore, but it still looked like it needed some taping up, maybe some stitches too.

“Yeah, those bat knives or whatever you call them are sharp,” Jason muttered. “But I think my leg is top priority. I need that to work in the future. Then probably my head, then my neck. In order of most pressing.”

“Yeah, alright. Are you willing to accept pain meds or did you just want a towel to bite on?”

“Second one. We’d have to wait for pain meds to kick in, I just want it over with.”

Dick figured as much. He found a clean face cloth for Jason and with a sickening twist and crack, he set Jason’s leg. Jason didn’t so much as even whimper.

Dick then got to work cleaning Jason’s neck wound, because despite what Jason said he was pretty sure that one was more pressing. “So, wanna tell me what happened in more detail?”

“I killed the Joker. Batman tried to stop me. Things got a little messy. Batman’s fine though, I saw him escape. I didn’t kill your father or mentor or former partner or whatever title he is to you. He wasn’t even supposed to be there,” he answered, tilting his head a bit so Dick could access the neck injury a bit easier.

“He’s… he’s dead? The Joker’s dead?” Dick hated the sense of relief he got from the realization.

“A few bullets to the head will do that to a guy, yeah,” Jason was staring blankly up at the ceiling and Dick had to remind himself what he was supposed to be doing and finished up Jason’s neck moving onto his head. “That was the whole point of all of this anyway. Killing him. Batman slicing my neck open and and some bombs being activated weren’t going to stop me,” he said, letting Dick turn his head to get to the deep gash on his temple that would definitely need stitches.

“Why all the trouble for just one maniac?” Because this was a lot of work and lead up to just kill one person, regardless of whether or not they were psychopathic murderers.

“Revenge, obviously. Why else would anyone do that much to kill one guy?”

Dick tied up the last bandage and found himself running his fingers through Jason’s blood crusted hair. “Mind if I ask?”

“Yes. I mind deeply, actually,” Jason said, but kept talking anyway. “The last time I saw him, it took a Lazarus pit to put my body back together,” he pointed at the white streak in his hair, that was more red at the moment.

Dick felt himself move before he realized and he pulled Jason into a hug.

“...what are you doing?”

“Hugging you.”

“Why?”

“I hear it’s this thing people do to try and comfort others. Just try wrapping your arms around me and putting your face in my shoulder,” Dick explained like he was talking to a kid. He found himself running his fingers through Jason’s hair again.

“Don’t patronize me; I know what a hug _is._ I was asking why you are hugging me.”

“And I told you why.”

“And what exactly are you comforting me over? Because the whole Lazarus pit thing was years ago, and I just took out the guy who beat me to the point of needing one. And hugging me seems like a weird reaction to hearing I killed someone tonight.”

Dick sighed and pulled away. “It felt like the right thing to do. I’m not happy that you murdered a man tonight, even if he was a psychopathic monster, but I’m not going to lecture you about it. You already got that from Batman, I’m sure. Right now all I want is for you to relax, recuperate, and heal. You had a long night.”

“I didn’t get much of anything besides a knife to the neck from Batman, actually, but I’ll do without the lecture. Especially since I saw the look on your face when I told you the Joker was dead. You might not be happy that I was the one to do it, but your lives become significantly easier when there’s a self disposing villain. I’m sure Batman is hoping I’ll wash up dead, cause of death drowning rather than blood loss,” he tapped the bandage on his neck, “so that he doesn’t have to feel bad about it and I can’t cause him any more problems.”

Dick didn’t confirm or deny what Jason said, but he was right. Dick didn’t like it that it was Jason who killed the Joker, but the Joker was a maniac and Dick hated that he felt a sense of relief that he was gone. “Well, I’m glad you’re still alive.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jason held up his wrist where “Safe” was written in Dick’s handwriting. “I did say Batman would be glad if I was dead, not you. Hell, even half of the batlings would probably be at least mildly upset about it at this point.”

“You’ve grown on us.”

“I blame you for that.”

“I’ll happily take all the blame for that. You should get some rest.” Dick got off the couch, but didn’t move to get any blankets or pillows. “If I offer you my bed, how likely is it that you are going to fight me on it?”

“I don’t want to move for at least twelve hours, and that includes to your bed, Dickiebird,” Jason informed him, laying back down on the couch. “Jason Todd, by the way. I know you’re just going to facial recognition scan me to do a background check. Just try to make sure Batman doesn’t find out since I made it easier for you to avoid using his tech.”

Dick went to fetch the pillow and blanket and draped the blanket over him. “Stop worrying and go to sleep, Jay.”

“If you insist.” And a few minute later he’d drifted off, looking almost peaceful in sleep, a state of being Dick never would have associated with Red Hood before.

He really was handsome. Dick had been teasing when he told him that, but it was true. Even covered in his own blood and Gotham Bay water.

He could only hope that Jason wouldn’t try and run the minute he woke up, his leg was in no condition for that. But he also knew Bruce was likely to contact him at some point about Jason, most likely to ask him if he had any idea where he would be. If Jason was still here by that point he’d have to try his best to lie, not that it was ever easy lying to Bruce. Well, at the very least he still had a day before the call came.

* * *

Jason was still asleep when Dick got up the next morning. He must have really needed the rest, because he was still out cold after Dick went and got breakfast and supplies to make a proper cast for his leg.

He definitely woke up when Dick tried to lightly touch his shoulder to get him up so he could check on his injuries though. His eyes shot open and he grabbed Dick’s wrist hard enough Dick worried he was going to break it before recognition flashed in Jason’s eyes and he quickly let go. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“It’s ok, I just wanted to check on your leg.”

“Yeah, go for it,” Jason said distractedly, looking around himself. “What time is it?”

“About one, not too late.” Dick gently examined Jason’s leg. It definitely needed the cast, but Jason also needed a shower so he’d just have to live with a splint for a bit and then he’d get a cast put on.

“You think one in the afternoon isn’t that late to sleep in?” Jason asked, turning to stare at him incredulously.

“We got in at four, it’s definitely not that bad.” Although he did like sleeping in just as much even when he did manage to get in earlier.

Jason looked like he was considering protesting, but changed his mind. “Can I borrow your shower? Gotham Bay leaves a lot to be desired in the cleanliness department.”

“You definitely don’t smell the greatest right now,” Dick agreed. “Just let me put a splint on you.”

Jason refused his help with actually showering, giving Dick a withering look at even the suggestion of helping him across the room to the bathroom.

It was kind of painful to watch, but Jason did eventually make it to the bathroom with some borrowed clothes in hand, and Dick heard the shower turn on after a few minutes so he supposed Jason had made it.  

They’d just changed the bandages and put a cast on Jason’s leg when a knock came at Dick’s door.

He glanced at Jason and checked through the peephole to see Bruce there. The look on his face must have said enough, because Jason glanced at the window like he was trying to assess his chances of a quick escape, and seemed to deem them not good, because he picked up a mask and hat off the floor, Dick’s messy apartment coming in handy for once, and quickly put both on.

“Bruce, why are you here?” He said even before the door was open.

“Who’s with you?” Bruce apparently didn’t even need to see Jason to know he had company.

“A friend.”

“Now’s not really a good time, Bruce.” Dick had the door open enough just for Bruce to see him. He was definitely going to know that the man behind him was Red Hood just from the cut at the neck, and Dick may have neglected to tell him that Hood knew who all of the Bat’s were. Or that they’d reached a point of friendliness that involved Jason sleeping on his couch.

But it was too late for that, because Bruce simply shouldered his way in and stopped dead at the sight of Jason, in a cast and Dick’s clothes while wearing a baseball cap to hide his hair and one of Nightwing’s masks, camped out on his couch.

Jason was the first to break the stare down, looking to Dick. “I think it’s time for me to leave. Do you have something I can use as a crutch? I’ll call an Uber or something.”

Dick would much rather he didn’t leave, and apparently Bruce agreed, but for much different reasons. “No, you should stay while Dick explains to me what you’re doing here, why he’s harbouring a criminal, and why he failed to mention that you happen to know his identity.”

“I could probably find you a crutch, think you could make it out the window without hurting yourself?” As much as Dick would rather keep Jason for a few more hours just to make sure he was actually fine, he didn’t need to hear this fight with Bruce, and he definitely didn’t need to be around if Bruce was just going to try and arrest him.

“Definitely not or I would have done that before you opened the door. I’ll be leaving out the door,” Jason looked pointedly at Bruce who was still standing in the doorway.

Of course Jason wasn’t going to make things easy for him, and had to be confrontational about this.

“I’m going to have to insist you stay.”

“You gonna fight me as Bruce Wayne?” Jason challenged.

“If I have to.”

Jason scowled at Bruce, and unsteadily got to his feet, leaning most of his weight onto his good leg, looking like he was actually going to try and fight despite his broken leg. And then he glanced over at Dick and sighed, sitting back down. “No. I’m not going to fight you, because if I fight you right now I’m going to shoot you, and I’m not doing that in front of Dick right after he helped me.”

“I’d prefer you didn’t do it at all, but thanks for being thoughtful. I’d also prefer if Bruce didn’t try and fight you, especially not in my apartment.”

“Oh, if he starts a fight I’m shooting. That’s self defense since I’m not exactly in a position to win a hand to hand fight with a broken leg. I’m just not picking one,” Jason clarified.

“No one should be picking a fight and I will physically kick both of you out if you do,” Dick gave Bruce a pointed look.

“I still expect answers.”

“Please physically kick us both out, I don’t want to be here for this, and I don’t see any reason why I have to be. This seems like it’s between you and Bats. It’s not my problem.”

Bruce apparently decided to just ignore anything Jason was saying and skipped to his questioning. “Tell me, Dick, how long were you planning to protect him? I hadn’t realized your relationship had progressed as far as to reveal to him yours and, by proxy, the rest of our identities.”

“Oh get off your high horse; I figured it out myself. He didn’t betray your superhero cult,” Jason muttered.

Bruce didn’t look swayed.

“Look Bruce, I know you don’t like him, especially after last night, and I know he’s done bad things, but he’s not a bad person.”

Bruce definitely didn’t look convinced.

“How is my friendship with him any different from your relationship to Selena?” That implied something much more intimate than what his and Jason’s relationship was, but it was a little too late to take it back.

“If you’re comparing him to Selena, the difference is theft in comparison to murder.”

“Let’s just get to the point,” Jason said, sitting up straighter and making eye contact with Bruce through the mask. “You cannot arrest me like this. I’m wearing zero gear and you’re not wearing the pointy ears. I’m actually wearing a combination of Dick’s clothes and Nightwing’s mask, which would be an interesting thing to explain to the cops. You can’t prove I’m Red Hood because no one knows what Red Hood looks like. You still don’t entirely know what Red Hood looks like. I know who you are while you don’t know who I am. And my identity doesn’t even really matter that much, whereas yours does. I might have a broken leg and the remnants of a concussion, but you’re the one at a tactical disadvantage here. I don’t want to out Dick, and I don’t particularly care one way or the other about outing you, but I also don’t want to go to jail,” Jason said calmly. “So what’s your move, bats?”  

“And how can I be sure you won’t just decide to reveal our identities later once you’ve recovered?”

“Because I haven’t yet? And it doesn’t do me much good to do so,” Jason shrugged.

“So you would be willing to reveal our identities once it benefits you?”

“Bruce! Would you lay off.”

“If that benefit is not having you arrest me, yeah. I’m not going to jail for you. Other than that though, I can’t even think of a way it could benefit me. I don’t actually care about you that much, Batman. There are villains who are bigger thorns in my side than you. You weren’t even supposed to be anywhere near me last night. You were supposed to be dealing with the Black Mask. I basically handed him to you, and you sent Red Robin after him. And I still did what I planned to do even with you there.”

“You not only murdered a man in cold blood, you plotted it,” Bruce practically growled.

“Oh, do you mean the Joker, who has killed and injured hundreds, if not thousands, of people? How tragic, I’m sure the world will mourn his loss forever,” Jason answered sarcastically. “Decent chance if you turned me in for that one the city would give me an award.”

“No one person has the right to decide whether or not a person deserves to live.” Bruce turned a sharp look to Dick, “You can’t tolerate this.”

“I don’t, but I’m not blind to the fact that he believes he’s doing the right thing. It’s not like he kills everyone he doesn’t like; he kills when he believes the people are irredeemable, and, no I don’t agree with that and I’m not okay with it, but I can respect that he thinks it’s right. If I’m not wrong, I’m pretty sure Superman was pretty critical of your methods of scaring the crime out of people before he got to know you too. And it’s not like everyone in the League is as anti-killing as you and big blue.”

“Those members do not meet the numbers of death he’s had and only allow it when it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Necessity is subjective. You know that.”

“Was it necessary for you to nearly kill me?” Jason piped up, tapping his bandaged neck. “Pretty dangerous place to be putting knives, Bats. And I didn’t see you looking for me to make sure I hadn’t drowned. I wasn’t particularly hidden, Dick was able to find me. Where does severely injuring someone and leaving them to die fall on your moral scale again?”

For that, Bruce didn’t have a response.

“Look B, I know you guys don’t agree with each other, or even want to tolerate each other, but can’t you just let this one stay at a truce? He’s really not that bad.”

Bruce still stubbornly glared at the both of them for a good few minutes before he reluctantly nodded. “Fine. I’ll accept a truce. For now. But if I even detect a hint of a sign that you might go back on your word, I will hunt you down.”

“Great. Another bat following me around,” Jason’s eyes might have been covered, but the eye roll was still clear in his tone.

“At least I grow on you,” Dick teased because Bruce accepting a truce was as good as he was going to get.

“I’m going to trust your judgement, Dick.” Bruce looked like he was done with his visit, which begged the question of why he came in the first place. “I came to ask why you were in Gotham and to ask you to see if you could track Red Hood down.”

“Well, I found him.”

“And I’ll be going. Be careful.”

After a few seconds of awkward silence in the wake of Bruce leaving Jason tried to pull at the mask on his face and jerked his hand back when it presumably shocked him. He stared at his hand for a second before looking up at Dick. “I don’t know how to take this off,” he admitted.

Dick let out a snort of laughter. “Hold on, the zapping is hooked up to my suit.”

“Right, so how do I get it off without getting electrocuted?”  

“I turn it off like I turn off the rest of my suit. Hidden buttons.” Dick didn’t exactly have the rest of his suit, given his rush last night, but he could turn off just the mask. He pressed a small button on the side of the mask on Jason’s face and peeled it off for him.

“Is that going to change now that I know where it is, or can I expect to be able to remove it if I ever end up wearing one of your masks again?”

“It takes a lot of work to redesign these and usually a visit to the Batcave, so I think I’m just going to assume you won’t abuse this knowledge.”

“A fair assumption, but just know if you ever figure out anything about my helmet, I’m changing it no matter how much trust we gain.”

“What does your helmet do to me? Does it explode if I try to take it off?” Dick laughed.

“Yes,” Jason said, shrugging his shoulders.

Dick really wanted him to be joking but the longer he stared at him the less it looked like he was. “You wear a _bomb_ on you _head_?”

“Well when you say it like that it sounds worse than it is,” Jason protested.

“I don’t see how. The worst my suit can do if I take it off wrong is knock me down for a few minutes. Yours could blow off your head.”

“Why would I take off my helmet wrong? If it blows up it’s because someone else is taking it off wrong. And I know how to remove it, so if I’m still able to move it’s taking them down not me.”

“What if you come in tired one night and you fumble the controls?” Dick was not admitting that he may have done that before.

“Why would I do that when there’s a bomb? Also I know the control to stop it before it blows up.”

“I’m not saying you will; I’m saying could accidentally, which is why wearing a bomb on your face sounds like a bad plan.”

“Like I said, I know how to turn it off. If something goes wrong it is stoppable.”

“Right. I’ll just remember to never try and take off your helmet.”

“Good plan. Can’t see why you’d need to anyway though.”

“Maybe some days I’ll just want to see your handsome face,” Dick gave his hair a light ruffle, careful to avoid the bandage. Really, he was more likely to try to take it off to check Jason for head injuries whenever there seemed like a chance of it happening.

Jason, not surprisingly, shoved Dick rather roughly away so he couldn’t touch his hair. “Absolutely not. Helmet and mask stay on in the city,” he said, avoiding eye contact.

“Alright, whatever you say,” Dick laughed. “Let’s get some breakfast in you.”

Jason looked a little caught off guard by that. “You don’t have to feed me. You already handled the injuries.”

“I got us pancakes,” Dick held up a take out bag, ignoring Jason’s protests.

For a moment he thought Jason was going to refuse, given the skeptical look he was aiming at the bag, before he finally nodded, looking reluctant even as he did so. “Alright. Thanks, I guess.”


	5. Not Really Annoying

Breakfast passed with a little more teasing, with a splash of flirting on Dick’s end, just to see Jason get flustered. It was just so fun to see his cute side. Eventually, Dick did have to let Jason go home, or whatever was closest to home for him since Dick wasn’t sure Jason wouldn’t tell him where he lived no matter how much he may have trusted Dick by calling him. Dick was adamant about driving him though. He was in no condition to walk long distances, especially without a proper crutch.

“Fine,” Jason agreed exasperated after a few minutes of arguing with him on this one. “Compromise a perfectly good safe house,” he muttered, but rattled off an address for Dick.

Getting Jason out of his apartment was somehow more difficult than getting him in, despite Jason being able to mostly stand by himself and no longer at risk of bleeding out. All his neighbors decided that right then was when they would try and catch him for a conversation. Most of those conversations were also centered around how long it had been since they’d seen him, and around who Jason was. He didn’t like the suggestive looks they gave him and Jason either, especially with Jason in a cast and with how bandaged up he was.

Jason seemed to grow tired of the small talk rather quickly. “Sorry, but we really do need to get going.” And despite having a leg in a cast and mostly using Dick as a crutch, Jason was suddenly the one pulling Dick along. 

“Sorry, I know they’re nosy.” Dick said.

“Given who you are, I expected about as much. It’s really almost amazing that you manage to have a secret identity at all.”

“I’m not here that much. The apartment’s really just for show.” And for hook ups, which didn’t really help Jason’s case of not seeming like someone Dick was sleeping with.

“I meant in general. If someone takes off my mask they won’t know who the hell I am. I’m amazed you don’t get caught even without that happening to you.”

“No one would believe the flippant, rich, playboy would spend his nights jumping in front of bullets.”

“It didn’t take me long to put it together,” Jason pointed out. “I’ve got a bit of an advantage,” he held up his wrist, covered by his jacket sleeve at the moment, “but still.”

“Not everyone’s as smart as you. And I wasn’t exactly the best at keeping it under wraps when it came to teasing you.”

“Your rope tying skills were also a decent indicator.”

“Again, that could’ve just been a sign that I’m a little too used to getting kidnapped.” They finally reached the car with only a curious look from the door man, and Dick helped Jason lower himself in.

“I don’t know enough about people getting repeatedly kidnapped to dispute that, but it sounds fake as fuck.”

“Well, even when the kidnappers start making a fuss about how they have no idea how pretty boy Dick Grayson escaped them, no one ever really listens to them.” A little of Bruce’s doing. From what Dick could tell, Jason’s safe house wasn’t exactly close, which made sense, it wouldn’t be too helpful for a crime lord to camp out on the good side of Gotham.

“That’s because people are stupid and you’ve made a whole fake personality for yourself. Which is annoying, by the way. I think I hate Richard Grayson a little.”

“You’re not supposed to like him. You’re supposed to want to sleep with him once and not really give him much thought after.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Jason rolled his eyes. “Still annoying.”

“And what about Dick Grayson-Nightwing. Do I meet your very high standards?”

Jason glanced over at him suspiciously. “For what exactly?”

“In general,” Dick shrugged.

“No. You’re too nice for the career you’re in. It doesn’t serve you well and makes you seem shady,” Jason answered flatly.

“What? What could possibly be shady about me?” Dick gasped dramatically.

“You stalked me for months before I started to like you at all.”

“I wouldn’t call it stalking exactly.”

“And what would you call it ‘exactly’ then?” Jason arched an eyebrow at him.

“A keen interest?”

“A keen interest that lead to stalking.”

“Only when I’m in Gotham.” He might’ve kept tabs on him while he was out of Gotham too, but Jason didn’t need to know that.

“That doesn’t make it not stalking.”

“Semantics,” Dick waved off. “Besides, I grew on you.”

“Like fungus. Or Stockholm Syndrome.”

“Now when you talk like that it makes me think you might not like spending time with me, and that can’t be right, right?” Dick grinned brightly at him without taking his eyes off the road.

“I don’t know, the first time I hung out with you outside of work Batman crashed the party and threatened to arrest me, and I had to bluff about outing you, so that definitely wasn’t a plus.”

“Bluff? And I think that should count as the second time. The first I actually drove you to an overpriced apartment and covered you in bandages.”

“I’m counting that as the same hang out, because I hadn’t left before Batman showed up,” Jason answered, completely ignoring his question.

“I knew I could trust you,” Dick grinned, ignoring Jason’s answer in favor of what he wanted to hear.

“It would be nearly impossible to out you without outing myself,” Jason said, staring intently out the window instead of looking at Dick.

Dick always liked being able to see Jason’s cute side no matter how much he likes to deny that he had one. Dick couldn’t stop smiling throughout the rest of the drive, to the point he was sure Jason was trying to glare holes into the side of his head to get him to stop.

The safe house Jason had given him an address to appeared to be a warehouse, and Jason didn’t really invite him in, but he went in anyway. Partly to help Jason inside and partly to make sure it wasn’t actually just an abandoned warehouse but something actually equipped to house Jason through recovery. It did, thankfully, actually appear well furnished. “You can just get me to the couch and go home,” Jason told him when he seemed to notice Dick surveying the place.

“Hey you got a kitchen in this place, you plan to cook for yourself?”

“After I get a proper crutch maybe. Until then I’ll probably just get takeout.”

“Take out delivers to warehouses?”

“It’s Gotham; they’re getting paid minimum wage, and I tip. They really don’t care. Also I think they think I’m a college student who got this place for cheap and repurposed it.”

Dick hummed in acknowledgement. “Well I guess I’ll get you those crutches now.” Dick started his way to the door before Jason could protest. He heard the start of Jason trying to argue with him, but simply closed the door behind him.

When he got back Jason was glaring at him from the couch the second he walked in the door.

“I got you crutches!” Dick held them up for Jason to see, “I even resisted the urge to get you the pink Barbie ones.”

“You’re so obnoxious. I could have gotten my own crutches.”

“But you didn’t have to.”

“You know I’m going to have to check these for trackers since you brought them, right?”

“It’s hurts that you think I’d use trackers on you.”

“I’m still not convinced that that’s not how you kept finding me and I just haven’t been able to find the tracker.”

“Then I guess you better keep looking.” Dick did not, in fact, have any trackers on Jason, but he did have Tim and Babs and between the both of them, trackers weren’t all that necessary.

Jason just watched him without answering for a few minutes before finally speaking up again. “Why are you helping me so much?”

Dick gave him a look that clearly said how ridiculous he thought that question was. “Because I like you.”

“You keep saying that.  _ Why  _ though? It’s not like I’ve been all that nice to you.”

And Dick supposed that was true, but he’d always kind of liked the challenge of strong personalities. “I mean, I know you didn’t really like me at first, but I can kinda tell it’s mostly for show now. Or maybe pride.”

“I get the feeling you would have done this even before I started to warm up to you,” Jason pointed out, tapping his wrist almost absently.

“Yeah probably, but not because of that. Believe it or not, I did just want to get to know you and you dying wouldn’t really help that.”

“Guess not. I don’t know that Talia would drop me in a pit a second time.”

Dick leaned the crutches against the closest wall to Jason and sat down beside him on the couch. “It’s kind of weird to think that you’ve been dead or close to dead. You’re the snarkiest zombie I’ve ever met.”

Jason glanced over at him, but didn’t move away or shove Dick away. “You saw me close to dead last night. Besides, back then I was only dead a few times and it didn’t last long. Doctors kept bringing me back.”

“How comforting,” Dick drawled sarcastically.

“It was years ago and you didn’t even know me. I wasn’t aware you needed comfort over it.”

“No matter how long ago it was, it’s not exactly nice to think about someone you know repeatedly dying. Especially not someone you ca-“ Dick stopped and quickly fixed his slip, “like.” It wasn’t that Jason didn’t know he cared, but he had a feeling Jason was the type to get weird and uncomfortable at real emotions other than anger being voiced.

Jason stared at him, clearly have caught what the slip was supposed to be, and frowning a bit. After a moment he seemed to decide to move past it. “People die on the operating table and get brought back all the time it just means your heart stops and they get it to start beating again. It’s not like I was dead and buried several times.”

There was still something very unsettling about the thought of Jason’s heart stopping, especially when he thought about how young Jason had to have been. Maybe it was time for a change of topic. “What kind of take out do zombies like? I’m thinking it’s getting pretty close to dinner time.”

“I already ordered food. I wasn’t going to let you buy that too,” Jason answered. “So I hope you like Thai.”

Which he had absolutely been planning to pay for it. “What do you mean?”

Jason just rolled his eyes at him, not bothering to dignify that with a response, and the knock at the door prevented Dick from teasing him further about it as Jason reached for the crutches to get up and answer.

Dick supposed he could live with Jason paying for this. Just this once though.

“I didn’t know what you liked so I got a lot,” Jason admitted, setting down a large bag on the coffee table and starting to pull take out boxes out of it.

“I can eat anything, but it looks like you’re going to be stuck with a lot of leftovers.”

“I’ll send half of them home with you, I don’t need this much.”

“I think the injured should get to keep all the food. Helps with the healing.”

“Too much for me to transport when I ditch this place tomorrow,” Jason told him with a shrug as he started to eat his food.

“You’re not staying here? Should you really be moving in your state?”

“Of course I’m not staying here. You know where this place is now,” Jason said like it should be obvious.

“You know where I live,” Dick countered.

“Yes,” Jason agreed easily. “But you actually have places you live in permanently. It’s very easy to find out once I knew who you were.”

“So you just bounce from warehouse to warehouse?”

“No, obviously not,” Jason rolled his eyes. “I’ve got apartments and actual houses too.”

“That you still rotate through, not having one you consider home?”

“Don’t make it sound all sad. It’s impractical to stay in one place for too long with this kind of job. I don’t even keep the same phone number for more than four months, why would I stay in one place that long?”

“Fine I guess, but why do you have to leave one just because I know where it is?”

“Because I don’t let people know where my safe houses are,” Jason said like this should have been obvious. 

“So you’re just going to abandon this one?”

“Yes. You’ll have to go back to hunting me down after I’ve healed enough to put on the helmet again,” Jason informed him. “And figure out what to do with it,” he added, almost as an afterthought for himself than as something he was saying to Dick.

It wasn’t hard to piece together from that that Jason likely only gained himself the name and reputation to take down the Joker. “I’d prefer to see you before that. I kind of wanted to check on your wounds again after a bit.”

“I can handle those myself,” Jason told him with a shrug. “It’s mostly just making sure everything heals right at this point and changing bandages.”

“Well, I guess if today’s the only day I’m going to see you until you’re back on your feet...” Dick leant over and pulled Jason’s feet over his lap, “What did you want to do?”

Jason turned a blank look on him, glancing between his feet in Dick’s lap and Dick’s face. “...what?”

“What?” Dick repeated innocently, “I think we mentioned something earlier about hanging out outside of work. I’m declaring that that hasn’t ended yet. And you know you should keep your injured leg elevated.”

“Dick, I don’t need a babysitter.” 

“Is it so hard for you to believe that I just want to spend time with you? It’s all I’ve been trying to do.”

Jason side eyed him in a way that made it very clear it was hard for him to believe that’s what Dick wanted before finally sighing. “Fine. I’ve got Netflix on the tv, pick something.”

“That’s the spirit,” Dick gave Jason’s none injured leg a light slap. He settled on the cheesiest romcom he could find because he was clearly both a sadist and a masochist.

The look Jason levled him with was thoroughly unimpressed. “Is this really what you watch in your spare time?”  

“More or less. You’re the one who let me pick.” Dick did enjoy a good romcom, but cheesy ones just had so much second hand embarrassment.

“I expected nothing and I’m still disappointed.”

“But look how in love they are,” Dick snickered.

Jason glanced at the screen and then at Dick. “They’ve known each other for two days,” he said flatly.

“Such love,” Dick laughed.

“You’re annoying,” Jason informed him. But Dick had looked at his wrist when he went for the crutches, and it still said trustworthy, and he imagined if he looked now it would still say that.

“You can pick the next one,” Dick gave Jason’s leg a placating pat.

Jason didn’t end up making it to the next one, drifting to sleep about half way through the movie Dick had picked, his body clearly needing more rest to recover, and by the time the movie was over he seemed completely out cold.

Dick clearly hadn’t thought through pulling Jason’s feet onto his lap because he was very stuck now, and there was no way Jason wouldn’t wake up if he moved. A look at Jason as relaxed as he was, there was no way Dick would wake him up. He had been planning to go patrolling later in the night, but well, he still had time before night fall. He could stand to just be trapped under Jason’s legs until he woke up.

* * *

It wasn’t until three movies later that Jason did actually wake up, probably due to the on screen scream, jolting slightly and looking around, eyes landing on Dick and brows scrunching up. “What… what time is it? Why are you still here?”

“It’s getting pretty close to eleven, you’ve been sleeping for a while.” Dick didn’t bother to answer Jason’s second question. “Sorry I woke you.”

“You should have woken me up hours ago,” Jason muttered, sitting up so his legs were no longer trapping Dick’s. Dick was actually a little disappointed at the loss of warmth, but it was nice to finally be able to stretch his legs out.

“Why? From what I can tell, you need the sleep.”

“I could have gone back to sleep and you could have gone home.”

“I didn’t mind. I got through three movies while you were asleep.”

“Don’t you have Nightwing things to be doing in your own city?”

“My city will live for a night, and I don’t mind going and staying out a little later.” But he really should get going if he wanted to patrol at all.

“I’ve seen your city, and I don’t buy it.”

“It will, but I guess I do need to get back.” And it was only a little disappointing when he remembered that he wouldn’t be seeing Jason again until he was healed up.

“Take the food with you,” Jason reminded him.

Dick was tempted to be difficult about it and tell Jason to keep all the food, but Jason had ordered a lot of food and it did feel like a waste for Jason to just abandon this warehouse and not be able to take it all with him. “You’re still keeping most of it.”

“No I’m not,” Jason answered flatly.

“Yes you are, unless you think you can make me take more.” Dick said with a twinkle in his eye, taking only one of the containers of food.

“I’m pretty sure I could, but I don’t think you’d like it,” Jason answered.

“Oh?” Dick quirked a brow at him.

“Yeah, you have too much of a hero complex, easy to exploit,” Jason said, getting to his feet with a pained grimace, not even bothering to try and keep most of his weight on his good leg. “I’m going to put the food I want in the fridge without my crutches, or you can just take it yourself and put away the stuff I want,” he said, picking up two boxes and actually turning towards his fridge.

Dick could stand it for maybe two steps before he caved. “I hate you.” He was by Jason’s side in an instant and took the food out of his hands, guiding him back to the couch.

“I told you that you wouldn’t like it.” Jason did let Dick help him back onto the couch though, and watched smugly as Dick put away the two boxes he’d picked up and gathered up the others for himself. 

“You’re the worst,” Dick grumbled. He supposed he was having Thai for the next week.

“Your fault for insisting on getting to know me.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I still like you, and you’re stuck with me, but you’re also the worst.”

“Yes I can tell I’m stuck with you, because you’re still here and not saving the city or whatever you do.”

Dick begrudgingly piled the boxes into a stack to carry out, but not before throwing the blanket over Jason again. “Rest up, use your crutches, I’ll see you soon.”


	6. What I Want

When he did see Jason again, he had a whole gathering of ‘batlings’ as he tended to call them, otherwise known as Steph, Cass, and Tim, hanging around him, and managed to look disgruntled about it with the helmet on. 

“Nightwing, make them leave,” he insisted as soon as he spotted Dick. “I’ve been out for an hour and I suddenly have a teen following.”

“You were gone for weeks, we had to make sure the rumors you didn’t die without Nightwing’s supervision were true,” Steph teased, and Dick could just imagine the long suffering look Jason probably had on under the helmet.

“This is what you get for dropping off the radar.” Dick had no intention of getting the teens to back off, if only because it annoyed Jason.

“My leg was broken. Of course I dropped off the radar,” Jason said incredulously.

“Yeah, but I, a very good friend, offered to help nurse you back to health during those weeks and you still stayed silent.” Silent wasn’t exactly right. Jason had texted him back, telling him not to try and find him, but that was about it. Dick didn’t doubt that he changed his number just to avoid Dick’s barrage of questions about his condition.

“I hate all of you,” Jason informed them, pulling out a pack of cigarettes, which caused the other three to lean forward curiously.

“What? You’ve seen my face with a mask on, don’t act like Bat’s hasn’t shown you. You,” he pointed at Tim with the hand not lifting his helmet just enough for him to access his mouth, “straight up admitted to being a spy.”

“I admitted to being sent as a spy, I didn’t say I actually agreed to be one,” Tim answered, as Cass snatched Jason’s cigarete away as soon as he lit it.

“Hey!” He protested spinning to face her as she tossed it off the roof edge.

“You are healing. Smoking is bad for your health.”

“Yeah, well then it had better hurry up and kill me already, because it’s the only way I’m dealing with having four of you following me around,” he countered, taking a step away from her and pulling out another one.

Dick was quick to follow and threw an arm around him before he could back away too far. “C’mon Red, we’re only showing how much we care.”

Jason let Dick know how much he appreciated that by blowing smoke in his face.

Dick wrinkled his nose, but didn’t react much past that. “Can't imagine what that does to your breath.” From his proximity, he did try gauge how well Jason’s neck wound was healing. He could only really see the top bit of a scab forming over where the cut had been, Jason’s jacket covering most of it. Well if it was scabbing then it was pretty much healed.

“I wear a helmet, it doesn’t really matter,” he shrugged Dick off since the smoke hadn’t done the trick.

“Yeah, but you don’t wear that thing all the time, right?” Steph countered.

“He doesn’t,” Dick confirmed.

“You don’t know that. You only saw me without it because it broke,” Jason frowned at him.

Tim perked up at that part. “Nightwing says there’s a bomb in your helmet; how’d it break without setting that off?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Jason shot back mockingly.  

“He talks all tough, but he’s real cute under that helmet,” Dick teased.

“Okay, but real talk, is he like actually cute?” Steph asked. “Like physically, not your idea of cute personality since you include Robin in that and thus can’t be trusted.”

“Robin  _ is  _ cute. He just hasn’t opened up to you guys yet. But yeah, Red here’s real handsome.”

“Shut up,” Jason shoved him.

“Aw, don’t be embarrassed about your killer looks.” Dick would never get tired of teasing Jason, even if he couldn’t see the blush.

“I’m not. You’re the embarrassing part.”

“That’s fair; Nightwing is embarrassing,” Tim shot him a grin at his betrayed look.

“This is not supposed to be about me.”

“Well you’re the one who knows the most about Hood. You could enlighten us,” Stephanie said sweetly. “Otherwise who else are we going to talk about? We know you better.”

“There’s not really much to tell. Even if I know him best, the man likes to keep his secrets. All I can really say is that the easiest time to catch him is when he needs one of those death sticks,” he wiggled a finger at the cigarette hanging out of Jason’s mouth, “And he apparently blows places up if you find out he stays there,” Dick leveled him with a pointed look, because when he’d checked back on the warehouse he left Jason in, it was not only abandoned but just gone. Debris was left in its place.

“Understandable,” Tim said at the same time that Steph said “Wait like, actually blows them up?”

“I’m sensing that Red Robin is taking your side and I don’t like it,” Dick frowned at Jason. “And yes he actually blew it up.”

“I did not. That’s too loud and obvious. I just set it on fire,” Jason corrected.

“Pretty much the same thing.”

“If you used too much accelerant it would still be obviously arson,” Cass pointed out quietly.

“Yeah, but it’s Gotham,” Jason waved his hand with the cigarette carelessly. “Arson is a low level crime here. Explosion means possible super villain attack.”

“Yeah but arson while you’re recovering on the place you were dropped off to recover in is a bit excessive. What would I have done other than check up on you?” Dick managed to snatch the cigarette out of Jason’s fingers and flashed him a triumphant grin.

“Get followed by Batman and lead him right to me,” Jason answered, reaching to take it back.

Dick held it out of reach from him. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“You wouldn’t mean to let that happen,” Jason corrected, roping Dick into his personal space with an arm around his waist so he could easily snatch the cigarette from him.

“I'd be more careful.” Dick tapped Jason’s exposed chin. He did try to be more careful when it came to Jason’s secrets, just because he knew how tightly he guarded them.

“Should we give you guys some room?” Steph chimed in, looking way too interested.

Jason dropped his arm and stepped back quickly, fidgeting with his cigarette rather than actually smoking it. “Is that all it takes to get you guys to back off?” He asked.

“I mean, I might be interested to see where this goes.” There was a glint in Steph’s eye. Dick just knew there was.

Dick was admittedly blushing just a bit, but still tried to play it off. For Jason’s sake, of course. “C’mon guys, you know it’s not like that.”

“We do not, in fact, know that,” Tim said, looking between them.

“You were just telling us how cute and handsome you think he is.” Steph and Tim teaming up together didn’t bode well.

“But I mean, well he is, but-uh...” Dick could feel his blush grow.

“And you’re soulmates,” Cass said calmly, causing everyone’s heads to whip around to face her. “...did we not all know that?”

“No, I thought only the two of us knew. How did you know?” Dick really shouldn’t be surprised that Cass had managed to figure it out, but he would like to know how. He’d been pretty confident he hadn’t given anything away.

“You look at your wrist sometimes when you talk about him,” she said to Dick. “And Red Hood sometimes angles his wrist towards himself when you’re mentioned.” 

Dick hadn’t even noticed that he did that. Leave it to Cass to pick apart his unconscious habits.

“Sooo what I’m hearing is you think he’s hot, you find his personality endearing,  _ and  _ you’re soulmates, but you haven’t tried to bang him?” Dick might just strangle Steph no matter how much he loved her. Especially since Jason was starting to look about ready to just bail out of the situation.

“Yes, we’re soulmates and yes to everything else you just said, but we’re also currently just friends, and I’d prefer it if you didn’t scare him off.” Dick gave Jason a pointed look hoping he wouldn’t run away.

“I’m not scared of a few teens out past their bedtimes,” Jason told him, flicking what was left of his cigarette off the roof and pulling his helmet down.

“Then stop looking like you want to run away, my fated.”

“You said  _ currently  _ friends, right? So…” Steph apparently wasn’t going to let it drop.

“Well this has been a fun powwow, but I’m leaving,” Jason decided out loud.

“I knew you wanted to run,” Dick muttered.

“I’m not running. I’m leaving. I have things to do tonight that I don’t need a bunch of batlings for.”

“You’re running and it better not be months before I see you again.”

Jason gave him a two finger salute and made his retreat.

“Want” was on his wrist later that night. Dick had to imagine that Jason’s wrist looked the same.

* * *

“You have a weird way of showing want when all you do is ignore my calls.” Dick landed down next to Jason, hoping he succeeded in surprising him, the slight tensing to his shoulders seemed to indicate he had.

“Well, you don’t have my current number, so there’s that,” Jason told him.

“Ah right, your crippling paranoia.” Dick waltzed up to him, stopping closer than he normally would, but still not close enough to be touching.

“Yeah, guess you’ve just been bothering whatever poor sap got my old phone number.”

“Maybe you should give me your new one.” Dick reached over to take Jason’s hand in his, the one he knew the words were on, giving him enough time to draw away if he wanted to, which he did end up doing, not looking at Dick as he moved his hand closer to himself.

“Can I hazard a guess at what it says?” Dick asked, his smile staying soft.

“I’d think you’d know what you think about me. It’s hardly a guess.”

“I think a lot of things about you. It’s just the most prominent thought. Do you know what mine says?” He tapped his wrist.

“Ideally it says annoying; I’ve been thinking that really hard specifically so that would be on your wrist, but considering you’re asking me I’ll assume that’s not the case.”

“No, it’s not, at least not since I last checked.”

Jason sighed and turned to face him, not that it helped much with the helmet on. “What are you fishing for here exactly?” 

“Why are you hesitating?” Because Jason had to know that Dick knew. That they should feel the same.

“Do you want the reasons alphabetized or… Dick, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Jason sighed again, pulling off his helmet so he could look at him a bit better even with the mask still in the way. “Batman still wants me arrested. I kill people. And I’ve never done,” he gestured between them, “this kind of thing.”

Dick resisted the urge to reach for Jason’s hand again. “You know how I feel about the killing. We’ve been over it a few times, and it’s not going to change what I think or how I feel. B is, well you can’t exactly ignore B, but he can’t control who I choose to associate or be with, and what he thinks of you isn’t going to affect me. And just because you haven’t, doesn’t mean you can’t.”

“I barely know how to be your friend,” Jason pointed out. “And Batman might not control who you associate but he will figure out my identity if we’re together. He’s not going to stop being a problem.”

“No, I can’t imagine he would, but when have you ever let the Batman get in the way of something you want without putting up a fight?”

“Which brings us right back to this isn’t really something I do.”

“But it’s not something that you don’t want.” Dick took the slightest step closer to him. “You’re afraid one of us is going to mess it up.”

“Of course we will,” Jason muttered. “Our life style isn’t really made for this kind of thing.”

“I think you’re wrong. I think even if one of us manages to fuck up, we’re both too stubborn to let it ruin things.”

“Quite full of yourself to think that I don’t expect you to be nearly as much of a disaster as I am.”

“We’re both disasters, but we can make it work.”

“I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“But it can. The both of us being disasters hasn’t ever stopped me before.”

“And it’s gone terribly for you. You’ve seen my face all of one time, and you got my name because I was injured by your father figure who still wants me arrested. It’s also gotten you shot, I’m still upset that you did that. It hasn’t stopped you, but it really should have.”

“Jay, I don’t like you despite your issues, I like you, issues and all. Yeah, you’re overly secretive and cautious, and you’d probably get suspicious of a mouse if it was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I don’t dislike that. I get why you’re like that, and it makes me happy to know that you trust me despite all that, because I know you trust me. And I’d jump in front of any number of bullets if I thought they were a threat to you.”

“Dick I-” Jason frowned at him, looking nearly at the end of his rope. “You don’t have to push for this just because of some stupid words on your wrist. You can do better. You  _ should  _ do better.”

“I haven’t let the words affect how I feel so far. Why would that change now? And what’s better than you, when you’re exactly what I want?” Dick held his hand out again for Jason to take, letting him decide.

“It’s a bad idea,” Jason told him, even as he hesitantly took Dick’s hand. 

Dick leaned up to press his forehead against Jason’s. “Doesn’t look like one to me.”

“That’s because you’re pathetically optimistic, and if I were a betting man I’d put money on that being why you end up dead someday.”

“One of us has to be able to see the bright side, and it’s clearly never going to be you.” His other hand trailed up to Jason’s neck, playing with the short strands of hair at his nape. Slowly, so Jason could stop him if he wanted to, he leaned over to press the lightest kiss to his lips.

Jason hesitated, but finally leaned into the kiss, tangling his hands in Dick’s hair. 

Dick would’ve been content to stay just like that, sharing a breathtaking kiss with Jason and pressing a gentle one on his cheek as they pulled away, but his audience apparently disagreed. “How dare you put your hands on Nightwing!”

“Shit,” Jason muttered, quickly shoving his helmet back on and turning to where Damian was running at him with a sword out. “Kid, you’re like six. I’m not fighting a six year old,” Jason said patronizingly as he dodged the attack.

“Scum like you does not deserve to be able to touch Nightwing so casually!”

“I was wrong, Nightwing. It’s not Batman that’s going to be the problem, it’s your kindergarten psychopath here that’s going to murder me in my sleep some day.”

“Robin!” Dick tackled Damian as best he could and wrangled him into a hold. “Red hasn’t done anything wrong, stop trying to run him through with your sword!”

“He has defiled you!”

“I liked the defiling!”

“I’ve barely touched you; don’t call it defiling,” Jason complained.

“I liked it, whatever you want to call it, so you can’t off him,” Dick lowered a glare at Damian. It wasn’t all that effective behind his mask and from the angle he was holding Damian.

“Your judgement has always been lenient and your standards low. That lowlife does not deserve you!”

“Oh hey jinx, I was just telling him that. So clearly you should be angry with him not me.”

Damian just struggled harder in his hold, trying to jump at Jason still.

“Shouldn’t you be on my side?” Dick frowned at Jason.

“I think your side means fighting a six year old, and that’s just not a low I’m willing to stoop to.”

“You don’t have to fight with him, just don’t agree with him and put yourself down.”

“I think he thinks I have to fight with him.”

“Well he shouldn’t.”

“Someone has to protect your virtue!” Damian wriggled his way out of Dick’s hold and was back to at trying to slash at Jason.

“I’m willingly trying to give him my virtue! You don’t need to protect anything, Robin!”

“Dickiebird, I think it’s time for me to bail out of here. If you could put a leash on your guard dog here?”

Dick managed to tackle Damian back down long enough for Jason to back away. “Call me! I mean it!”

 

Epilogue

“Well I was hoping I’d somehow manage to never have to talk to you again,” Jason muttered as he blew smoke Batman’s way. He wasn’t even in any Red Hood gear tonight, waiting on Dick to finish his Nightwing stuff and meet up with him, which meant Bruce had figured him out.

“Unlikely.” Batman, to his surprise, didn’t attack him or even try to interrogate him. Instead he started with “Dick had a very long… intervention on giving you a chance.”

“Ah, so I’m your second shake down of the night since it didn’t work on him,” Jason rolled his eyes.

“It was more his shake down on me. Something about ruining his love life.” Batman sounded too casual to be trusted.

“... so what is this then?” Jason asked.

“I won’t ask what your intentions are with my son. I assume with the trust I’ve seen you put in him that you at least value him enough to actually like him. So I’m here to tell you that while I don’t approve, I will not be the reason for whether or not the two of you do not work out.” Apparently whatever Dick had said to him really got through.

Jason narrowed his eyes at him. “... I don’t buy it. Dick could have told me that. And you came as Batman.”

“Dick doesn’t know I’m here.” And that was when Bruce stood to his full height, which was actually the same as Jason’s if you didn’t count the ears, and got unnervingly close to Jason. “If you hurt my son there is nothing in Gotham that will stop me from taking you down.”

“Yeah, there it is,” Jason muttered, rolling his eyes. 

“Are we clear?”

“Yes, but I already figured that. I didn’t need it spelled out.”

“I don’t like leaving things to chance.”

“Same. But if you don’t get out of here soon Dick will know about this since I was supposed to meet him five minutes ago,” Jason said, glancing at his watch. “Which means he’ll probably show up in the next five to ten minutes.”

It was hard to get a good read on Batman but he didn’t seem all that surprised or in a rush to leave even as he did start backing away. “Be good to him. He seems to really like you.”

“I do,” Dick cut in, appearing out of seemingly nowhere.

“You’re late, birdy,” Jason informed him.

“Got a little held up. But I can see you already had some company.” Dick, uncaring that Bruce was still there, looped his arms around Jason’s neck. “He didn’t scare you, did he?”

“I think he’s proven that he is immune to intimidation.”

“Or you’re just bad at it,” Jason shrugged.

Dick choked on a laugh. “I can’t believe you just told Batman he’s bad at being intimidating.” Bruce on the other hand didn’t give any reaction. Or at least none that Jason could garner with a mask on.

“Well, do I look particularly intimidated to you?”

Bruce stayed unnervingly quiet, looking between the two of them until finally, “you look smitten.” And that was never a word he thought he’d hear come out of Batman’s mouth. “I suppose you won’t have trouble keeping him under control,” he aimed that at Dick and with that he left with not so much as a goodbye.

“... I feel weird. Like I shouldn’t have heard Batman say the word smitten at any point in my life.”

“He knows how to shock in many ways, but,” Dick leaned closer to Jason, pressing their bodies together, “I hope he’s right for once.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t use that word, but I guess, I just hate that I heard him say it.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s why he said it.”

“Absolutely horrendous. I never want to hear anything like that again.”

“Whatever you say, my smitten boyfriend.” Dick kissed him before he could voice any protests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! I considered posting the epilogue as it's own chapter on the usual schedule, but Crysty and I agreed that it seemed a little unfair to make you guys wait a week for like a page so here we are. Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! Consider leaving a kudos and comment if you liked it <3 -Kate


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